Method of dispensing interfolded sheet material and package therefor

ABSTRACT

Interfolded sheet material such as facial tissues having a rectangular shape are folded upon themselves about an axis corresponding generally to the longitudinal centerline of an exterior tissue. The clip is then disposed in a cylindrical or other similar shaped package adapted to stand on end, and the individual tissues may be dispensed longitudinally.

United States Patent Nelson 15 3,700,138 51 Oct. 24, 1972 [54] METHOD OFDISPENSING INTERFOLDED SHEET MATERIAL AND PACKAGE THEREFOR [72]Inventor: Howard N. Nelson, Neenah, Wis.

[73] Assignee: Kimberly-Clark Corporation,

Neenah, Wis.

[22] Filed: Nov. 19, 1970 21 Appl. No.: 91,110

[52] US. Cl ..221/51, 206/57 R, 221/53 [51] Int. Cl. ..B65h 29/66 [58]FieldofSearch ..306/57R,58;22l/38,45, 48-51,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Nelson .,....2'2 1 I512,656,916 10/1953 Henderson ..221/51 X 2,033,582 3/1936 Materno ..221/452,965,224 12/1960 Harwood ..206/57 R Primary Examiner-Samuel F. ColemanAssistant ExaminerLarry Martin Attorney-Daniel J. l-lanlon, Jr., WilliamD. Herrick and Raymond J. Miller .[57 ABSTRACT lnterfolded sheetmaterial such as facial tissues having a rectangular shape are foldedupon themselves about an. aXis corresponding generally to thelongitudinal centerline of an exterior tissue. The clip is then disposedin a cylindrical or other similar shaped package adapted to stand onend, and the individual tissuesmay be dispensed longitudinally.

4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTED00124 m2 SHEET 1 [IF 2 METHOD OFDISPENSING INTERFOLDED SHEET MATERIAL AND PACKAGE THEREFOR DESCRIPTIONOF THE INVENTION My invention relates generally to the packaging ofinterfolded sheet material. More particularly it concerns the packagingof larger rectangular, interfolded sheet materials such as facialtissues, paper towels and the like, so as to present an attractiveappearance, provide easy tissue dispensing and require substantiallyreduced surface area for storage.

Interfolded sheet material of this type have long been available inpackaged form, the packages usually having a base length equalling thewidth of the sheets and a base width equalling about one-third orone-half the length of the sheets (depending upon the fold of thesheets). The sheets are usually folded either into two approximatelyequal folds (hereafter referred to as two-fold material), or into threefolds (referred to as Z-fold material). There are certain other forms ofinterfolded sheets in which the sheets are folded otherwise than abovedescribed, but those described typify the most common form. For example,one additional form includes bonding of adjacent sheets; my invention isnot particularly suited for the packaging of such bonded sheets since itdoes not result in sequential rupturing of these bonds.

In my earlier patents, U.S. Pat. No. 2,611,482 and U.S. Pat. No.3,369,700, I have disclosed packages for dispensing tissues wrappedabout an axis proximate the centerline of the lengthwise foldeddimension of the bottom tissue. While these latter packages reduced thesurface area required for storage, further reduction consistent withproduct quality and attractive appearance remained a desideratum.

It is, therefore, a primary object of this invention to provide a methodand package for dispensing interfolded tissues that requiresignificantly less surface area for storage than known packages.

Related to that objective, it is further an object of my presentinvention to provide such a method and package that results in acompact, attractive, and convenient dispenser.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent to thoseskilled in this art upon reference to the detailed description below andto the drawings in which,

FIGS. 1 to 3 are schematic illustrations of successive steps in thepreparation of the tissue stack or clip in two-fold form for packaging.

FIG. 4 is a perspective illustrating one form of package opened forsheet dispensing purposes.

FIG. 5 shows another, particularly economical package.

In the known packaging arrangements previously described there areprovided dispensers that are entirely suitable for smaller tissues.However, for larger tissues and other interfolded sheets, the spacerequired for receiving and supporting the package during use oftenpresents a problem. For example, the most common dispenser packagecontaining flat interfolded tissues covers a surface of about 46 squareinches in dispensing position. The improved dispenser disclosed in mypreviously mentioned patents reduces this area to about 19 square inchesfor a clip of 120-200 tissues. By virtue of my present invention it ispossible to utilize about the same area for a clip of 400 tissues ormore. The tissues are accessible one-by-one from a convenient andcompact package.

Turning now to the drawings,

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a more or less conventional stack oftwo-fold interfolded sheet material such as crepe tissue paper, thestack being disposed in an on-edge position. As shown the stackcomprises a first sheet A comprising folds 20 and 22 which are joined atthe top edge of the stack as indicated at 24; a second sheet B havingfolds 26 and 28 joined at the bot,- tom edge of the stack as indicatedat 30, the folds 26 and 28 embracing the fold 2,2 of the first sheet;and a third sheet C having the folds 32 and 34 joined at the top edge ofthe stack as indicated at 36, the fold 32 lying face-to-face with thefold 22 and also being embraced between the folds 26 and 28 of thesecond sheet. Additional sheets are assembled in the interfolded mannerindicated to provide the number of sheets desired in the stack.

To prepare this stack of interfolded tissues for packaging according tothe present invention, the first fold 20 of an exterior fold (at eitherface of the pack) is displaced longitudinally so as to project from theendof the stack as indicated in FIG. 2. It will be understood that byexterior fold I mean the outermost fold on either major clip surface.The fold 26 is thereby at least partially exposed, but the exteriorsheet fold 22 remains substantially in place with the fold 32 betweenthe folds 26 and 28 of the second sheet. From the condition illustratedin FIG. 2, the stack is then folded upon itself lengthwise about themajor orlongitudinal axis of the displaced sheet, for example, by meansof bar 38 illustrated in FIG. 3. The displaced portion 40 of the firstsheet is also foldedupon itself and projects outwardly from the centerof the stack 41 in its folded form. This extended leader portion isflattened down on the ends of the sheets for packaging so as to bereadily available when the package is opened.

The arrangement illustrated in FIG. 3 lends itself to packaging in manydiverse and attractive containers. I prefer to use a cylinder asillustrated in FIG. 4 with an opening 39 proximate the leader portion 40for dispensing of the tissues. In this form the package may be placed onend with the result that it is in the stable position requiring theleast possible surface area for storage and, at the same time, thetissues are readily available from the top of the container. Thecontainer may be formed from paperboard or other material such asplastic or metal offering protection for the contents as well asmaintaining its integrity.

FIG. 5 illustrates a packaging embodiment that is particularlyadvantageous in terms of cost. The folded clip 41 is wrapped with apaper or other protective wrap 42, the longitudinal ends of which aresubsequentlyclosed by means of adhesive tape 44. Perforations 46 providefor easy opening of the wrap, after which the roll may be provided withend closures or placed in any convenient dispenser such as that shown inFIG. 4. Alternatively a tear string may be used instead of the stripformed by perforations 46.

For Z-folded tissues, the procedure is substantially the same. The clipor stack is formed as illustrated and described in my aforementionedU.S. Pat. No. 2,61 1,482, particularly with reference to FIGS. 9-1 1. It

is then treated in the manner'described immediately above by displacinga portion of the top tissue, folding the stack, and putting it into acylindrical or similar shaped container having a dispensing opening inthe top.

Although dispensers of such shapes have been used for continuous rollsof materials, I believe that my invention provides the first suchdispensers for interfolded sheets. While the space advantages of myunique dispenser may be readily appreciated,'. it is to be emphasizedthat no sacrifice in convenience or tissue accessibility has been made.Contrary to what was expected, I have found that each tissue isdelivered in succession with a portion of the next extending outside thedispenser for easy access. It is preferred that the folded clip 41 besomewhat compressed as by means of inwardly projecting wrap portion 48in FIG. 5 to provide a smaller package. Tearing the tape allows the clipto expand slightly for easier tissue withdrawal. As each tissue isdispensed, the clip expands further providing particularly easy tissuewithdrawal and reducing the number of torn tissues. In addition thedispensing clip may be compressed to a degree less than in conventionalpackaging thus reducing the tendency to form deep wrinkles.

While my invention has been above described with respect to specificembodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in this art thatvarious modifications may be made therein without departing from itsspirit or scope. For example, the described dispensing arrangement maybe reversed to cause dispensing to take place from the outside of thefolded stack rather than from the center thereof. For most purposes,however, it is preferred that dispensing be from the center so that theoutermost tissues serve as protection for the others,

particularly where the dispensers are used in machine shops or otherlocations of likely contamination. Also, while the container crosssection has been illustrated as circular, it may take other similarforms such as a hexagon, for example, which provide an attractiveappearance. In further modification, the container may be provided witha top tab opening adhesively attached to the leader portion of the firsttissue so that opening the dispenser automatically presents that tissuefor the user. These and other such modifications are intended to beembraced within my invention except as it may be limited by the claimswhich follow.

Iclaim:

1. A dispensing package of interfolded sheet material comprising a stackof rectangular interfolded sheets folded upon itself about alongitudinal axis of an exterior sheet and having an exterior sheetpartially displaced longitudinally from the stack, and a container forsaid folded stack having a wall portion surrounding at least a portionof the stack and maintaining its longitudinally folded shape, said wallportion including an expandable inwardly projecting portion for easiertissue withdrawal.

2. The dispensing package of claim 1 wherein said partially displacedexterior sheet is the one about which the stack is folded.

3. The dispensing package of claim 1 wherein said container alsocomprises a top portion and a bottom portion, said top portion beingadapted to provide an opening therein through which the sheets may bedis ensed- The dispensing package of claim 1 wherein said wall portionincludes means for tearing it longitudinally to allow expansion of saidinwardly projecting portion.

1. A dispensing package of interfolded sheet material comprising a stackof rectangular interfolded sheets folded upon itself about alongitudinal axis of an exterior sheet and having an exterior sheetpartially displaced longitudinally from the stack, and a container forsaid folded stack having a wall portion surrounding at least a portionof the stack and maintaining its longitudinally folded shape, said wallportion including an expandable inwardly projecting portion for easiertissue withdrawal.
 2. The dispensing package of claim 1 wherein saidpartially displaced exterior sheet is the one about which the stack isfolded.
 3. The dispensing package of claim 1 wherein said container alsocomprises a top portion and a bottom portion, said top portion beingadapted to provide an opening therein through which the sheets may bedispensed.
 4. The dispensing package of claim 1 wherein said wallportion includes means for tearing it longitudinally to allow expansionof said inwardly projecting portion.